U-Mary Alumni Recognition Award

Appreciation
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
--William Arthur Ward
Lesson 7: Board members must be appreciated
Gratitude is formally defined as “a feeling and expression of thankfulness for the efforts of others that are costly to them and beneficial to us.” What’s most costly and valuable to volunteers? It’s their TIME. Don’t waste it; cherish it. Say “thank you” publicly and often. Small gestures of recognition and encouragement can go a long way to keep volunteers motivated, feeling happy, useful, valued, and loved. Effective boards understand the importance of giving special awards or “certificates of appreciation” to top performers. Not only do recognition awards provide positive

She also understood that whatever the recognition was, it needed to be timely and appropriate for the volunteer’s support. She generally had two types of recognition: informal and formal. Her informal types of recognition were thank you notes, letters of commendation, and acknowledgements from the podium. Her more formal recognition awards had specific criteria, and often involved larger, more organized events. As a recipient of the U-Mary Alumni Recognition Award, for example, I was deeply honored by this formal recognition and very proud of this accomplishment. Whatever the type of reward Sister Gwendolyn delivered, she made it perfectly clear to our Alumni Association that every volunteer’s contribution was sincerely valued and deeply

If volunteers are given meaningful tasks and rewarded and recognized appropriately for these, they will have a sense of belonging and a feeling of accomplishment. This in turn will result in productivity.
Table 7 provides some suggestions for matching volunteer motivation with the appropriate, meaningful response from the board.

Table 7. Volunteer Motivation & How to Respond
If the volunteer’s motivation is… Then the board should do this…
To support a cause, mission, vision, or shared value • Explain clearly and often to volunteers what your organization is doing to support its mission, vision, and strategic plans. Be specific.
• Take a few minutes at board meetings to share success stories of how individual volunteers are making a difference. Be specific.
To share knowledge, skills, and experience • Match the knowledge, skills, and experience of individual volunteers with meaningful tasks and committee assignments. Use results from volunteer surveys to identify individual talents and preferences.
• Don’t waste volunteer time on trivial tasks and unproductive committees.
• Invite volunteers with special skills to give brief presentations or reports to the